Prepared for Sandy

A reminder to everyone in Columbus, Ohio and other areas as Hurricane Sandy blows through, to take inside feather flags, banners, yard signs and possibly even outside window vinyl. While many of our signs are weather proof they are not natural-disaster-proof.

Should the power lines go down over the week, Next Day Signs should still be up and running on our back-up generator. The generators are capable of keeping a few of our computers, sign equipment, a couple lights and the phones working. From the outside it may not look as bright, but you can always double-check if we are open by calling in.

Please stay safe in this weather!

Cheryl’s Thoughts on SGIA

Author:  Cheryl –

Conferences are a mixed bag – at their best they offer great ideas for new development, an opportunity to network, and the chance to see/touch/feel products that interest you.  The other side is hours of standing, sometimes pushy sales people, and then the pressure of decisions to purchase – go small, go big, or not at all.

This last week I attended the SGIA conference, one of the largest sign conferences in the world.  We saw printers that could create banners to cover the side of a building, machinery that would need a new building to house it.  But we also saw many products and machinery suited for smaller businesses like ours that will help us to be more productive and increase the offerings to our clients that we can produce right in house.

Now it’s time for the follow-up – review the literature, check the samples, and makes some decisions about what steps forward to take our business.  Are you thinking about taking some steps forward this year with your business?  Let us help you market your new ideas or products with sign solutions.  Stop by with your ideas, notepad scratches or full designs and we’ll work with you to take it to great results in signs, banners, decals, displays, flags, or printing that will take your business to the next level.

Work and Games

Cheryl will be out of the office for half of the week, she’ll be attending the SGIA Expo. A specialty printing and imaging technology conference,  the largest of its kind in America, and it just happens to be in Las Vegas, Nevada. She assures me that she is taking the trip merely for the opportunity to see what new products we could work with, possible new machine investments for the business. Yet when she says all this with a smile, it doesn’t make it very convincing.

Card games and shows aside, I think that it is an important visit to make, and it will be our first time having someone attend such a populated event. It is always a good idea to continue to educate yourself on your field of business. There’s always a chance for new changes, new styles or improvements. But I’m making a note here to convince her before next year that she’s too valuable to send, and that I should go instead.

Halloween Parties

Halloween is only a couple weeks away and coming fast. Many of my friends are pondering how they wish to decorate their home for either parties or trick-or treaters. There are many themes to go for; festival, creepy, scary, historical, and the list goes on. It’s easy enough to pick up decoration items at the local costume store or the seasonal Halloween stores that pop up across town. And if you want something unique and cheap , don’t forget we’ve still got our ‘dollar menu’.

The dollar menu is a selection of smaller substrate signs (normally less than 2’x2′) available for $1. Then you can either buy your own  personal lettering for the sign, or buy just the sign to decorate yourself. It can be uniquely phrased then for your party theme, or it can declare the rules if costumes or sacrifices(BYOB) are required.

Have fun! Be safe! and beware of monsters!

Weddings and Birthdays

This weekend sure was busy, Cheryl drove out of town to celebrate her step-father’s 94th birthday, while I attended my friend’s wedding as a member of the bridal party. Each of us brought a sign gift to our respective parties. Cheryl brought a printed banner with over 25 pictures on it from across her step-father’s lifetime. The family enjoyed looking over the pictures, remembering moments in life from years past. 

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For my friend I gave her a 2′ x 2′ congratulatory sign for her wedding to be placed up at the location of the reception. I did not think much of it beyond being a nice touch and a gift. It turned out to be quite useful as the reception area that was booked was hosting two weddings at the same time. The sign, placed on a easel by the door, was just large enough to help attendants from the other wedding to stop from getting lost and stumbling into the wrong area. Signs can always be helpful and have more than one purpose.